The Pilgrims' Way

On Saturday I went by Broomstick into the town; it was a lovely day, if a little windy for travelling by Broomstick. L'Association Culturelle Dizannaise was holding another event, on the topic of walking the Pilgrims' Way (the routes to Santiago de Compostella). I wasn't sure if it would be interesting for me (walking -> pain!), but one has to support one's local wossnames.

It was more than interesting, it was stunning. An exhibition of maps, photos, clothing, and reproductions of old pictures and documents covered the back of the Foyer Rural, and there were photo-slides to accompany the talks, making it vivid as we watched and listened to the walk unfold.

The main speaker was a charismatic type who had retired (early, I think) and decided to walk the Via Turonensis (the western route which runs through Tours). He liked it so much he did it again, with a few detours round alternative routes; on this second pilgrimage he took the Via Podiensis (the route from Puy which is a continuation of the routes from Switzerland). Then he wrote a book about it. You could tell how much he'd become absorbed by the culture of the Way as soon as he introduced himself: first name only, "because on the Way we don't use family names and formality". He addressed everyone in the "tu" form, as well.

He didn't appear to be religious, or at least not Christian (for example, he mentioned that he hadn't taken part in the pilgrims' communion), but the spirituality of the experience had taken him over. He talked of the companionship of those who walk the route, especially in the hostels of an evening, and also of the sense of aloneness in the rhythm of marching 25 kilometres a day in all kinds of weather. He described the feeling of being in buildings touched by other pilgrims over hundreds of years, where even the ruins hold echoes of their lives, and showed some of the little shrines to those who had died on the route. He also showed us the accoutrements: the hat and staff, the shoes, and of course the cockleshells, but also the document by which he had been sent on the pilgrimage. He repeated this, that a pilgrim doesn't choose to go, but is "sent". He spoke of the traditions of the pilgrimage, culminating in burning the clothes worn on the way to Compostella so that the pilgrim returns home lightened of the burden, and clean.

The other two speakers, who are locals, had each walked some of the Way but not yet fulfilled the conditions of a Pilgrimage. They spoke of their own experiences and their hope to complete it, and shared some of the events of last August, as 2010 was a special year for the pilgrimage. All three speakers are members of the official pilgrim of from Saintes which runs that website.

The Via Turonensis (Tours) is one of the world heritage walks; the main route runs through Saintes and Pons to Mirambeau. There is also an old route which goes through St Dizant to the ferry at Blaye and then across to Bordeaux via the Médoc. Charente Maritime's section of the Way has a particular style of marking the path with bornes. I foresee a summer project!

The chairman asked if I'd consider doing the route on Broomstick (the accepted modes of transport are foot, horse, or bicycle, so it's not necessary to walk, though I wonder how bikes and horses cope with some of the muddy mountain tracks in the photos).

The afternoon finished with drinks and Santiago cakes. One small regret: we didn't sing a pilgrimage song. Perhaps I should have taken along the songs from the Cantigas de Santa Maria, saved from one of the music workshops that Belinda Sykes tutored ahem years ago.

Descriptions of the gear of a mediaeval and a modern pilgrim